The Lyonesse Stone published in CornishEvertype announces the publication of a Cornish version, translated by Nicholas Williams, of a book by Craig Weatherhill, Jowal Lethesow: Whedhel a'n West a Gernow—The Lyonesse Stone.Long ago, the land of Lyonesse between Land's End and the Isles of Scilly sank forever beneath the waves. Only the Lord Trevelyan escaped to tell the tale. Countless years later the legend of the Lost Land returns to haunt his descendants, who find themselves transported to the hidden realms of West Cornwall. Bound to fulfil an ancient prophecy, Penny and John Trevelyan are caught up in a centuries-old quest for power and immortality: "On the far side of the field, in front of the old, overgrown ruin, stood seven horsemen: a sinister line of motionless shadows. Dark were the horses on which they sat, dark their flowing robes and deep the cowls which hid their faces." With the help of these evil forces, the Lord Pengersek believes he will win. But while ancient legends spring to life, it is Penny and John Trevelyan who stand between him and... The Lyonesse Stone.The book contains illustrations by the author. The book was typeset and published by Evertype of Co. Mayo, Ireland.Copies may be obtained from Amazon.co.uk, from Amazon.com, or from Spyrys a Gernow, shoppa @ spyrys.org. See http://www.evertype.com/books/jowal.html

Books Plus in Market Jew Street, Penzance, have a few copies in the shop, as well.
This book captured a few "Firsts" – it was the first novel (and, I think still the only one) to be promoted by a film trailer. I think it's the first novel set in Cornwall to be translated into Cornish; and it might be the longest one, too.
The film trailer was produced by Three S Films, Penzance (with a few FX), narration by Stephen Hall, music by Medwyn Goodall (look up his website – the track 'Nine Maidens' from the Druid album is the one). Pengersek's demon-mare (with glowing red eyes) was beautifully played by my mare Larnie (who died a year ago today) – her rearing high against a stormy sunset was a staggering effect. Originally published by Tabb House, Padstow, in 1991 – this book and the film trailer were all-Cornish productions.
It is the first of a trilogy. "Seat of Storms" was the second; the last, "The Tinners' Way", is due to be published at Easter (with the horrors of 1549 revisiting themselves on modern Cornwall). Great fun to write, all three.

Perhaps because not everyone is cut out to be a translator, Palores. By the same token, not everyone is cut out to be a writer of fiction. Translation and story-telling are rather different skills. Recently, Craig has been correcting the proofs of the third book (written in English) in the Lyonesse series, to be published by Tabb House.I know some people who have told us that they had never read The Lyonesse Stone—but are now finding Jowal Lethesow to be a real page-turner!I hope you enjoy Jowal Lethesow as well.

My abilities as a translator are limited, Palores. I'm quite happy to admit that. I could never have translated my own book because of its content. 'The Lyonesse Stone' was a fantasy, based upon West Cornish legend. It required language that created certain atmospheres, and mental pictures, that you don't encounter outside fantasies, and these were far too much of a challenge for me ever to translate.
There was one particular scene (which, I readily admit, owed quite a lot to Dennis Wheatley: when I originally wrote this book, I looked to him to see how he had tackled, and achieved, the atmospheres he wanted to convey, and followed his example. Not plagiarism, I hasten to add - just education to be learned from a master. This was, after all, my first novel and you have to learn from others, and the scene in question was entirely original). I wondered if Cornish could actually do the same job. When I saw the proof that Nicholas had sent me, I couldn't believe it. He'd not only done it - but done it better in Cornish than I'd managed to do in English! Hair-raising stuff! And elsewhere in the novel as well. I can think of no one else who could possibly have achieved this standard of translation. And done it all (63,000 words) in just 16 days, as well!
Now, I'm quite aware that some of you consider/promote Nicholas to be some kind of bogeyman (if only because of his opposition to KK, and for no other reason) - his translation proved to me that he is one of the finest assets to Cornish we have, and have ever had.
I'm proud to see this book in print, and in a Cornish that quite obviously respects the historic tradition but is also so easy on the eye.

'The Lyonesse Stone', 'Seat of Storms' and 'The Tinners' Way' all contain some Cornish. 'Seat of Storms' has Dolly Pentreath recalling her encounter with 'Squire' Price – all in Late Cornish. 'The Tinners' Way' (Easter 2010) has some SWF/T. The main purpose of these novels was to promote our culture of legend/folklore and removing the touristic changes and trivialisation of those legends, rather than promote the language. The language features because it's an ever-present. What other language is Dolly going to speak in? Both 'Seat of Storms' and 'The Tinners' Way' have bilingual chapter headings (the first novel didn't because I hadn't thought of it back then).
By the second book, I'd also started introducing historical characters, such as Dolly Pentreath and Dr Borlase; the third has even more: John Carter, David "Cruel" Coppinger, Sir Anthony Kingston, Lord John Russell among them.
Why didn't I write them in Cornish? I thought that had been answered. In order to convey the same atmospheres in Cornish, it takes a highly advanced ability – far higher than mine will ever be. At least, Tim, I know my limitations – and own up to them, too.